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Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22, and serves as a reminder to protect the environment, restore damaged ecosystems, and live a more sustainable life.
Protecting the environment is a key district initiative, and fortunately for us, we have Biologist John “Mike” Thron as our environmental champion.
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Thron earned his degree in biology with a focus on river ecology from the University of Memphis.
Thron’s interest in biology began in childhood, but it wasn’t until college that he realized there were jobs in applied sciences related to the outdoors.
“I had various unrelated jobs up and through most of my college years, but luckily I had a few good college professors that spent the time to drag me through the woods, rivers, and swamps to assist them in their research and teach me about practical application of biological research,” Thron said. “One of these professors offered me the opportunity to interview for an internship with USACE in 2002, and I have worked here ever since.”
As a biologist, Thron conducts the necessary field work and coordination to ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Additionally, he is charged with determining the environmental impacts and benefits of proposed actions.
“We incorporate ways to avoid and minimize impacts to significant environmental resources in all of our activities,” Thron said. “Some projects are also formulated specifically for conservation and Ecosystem Restoration and those related benefits.”
And through close coordination and collaboration with the public and other various regulatory environmental agencies, Thron said the district is able to provide mutually supporting economic and environmentally sustainable solutions to water resource problems in our region.
While he enjoys his work overall, Thron most enjoys conducting field work with colleagues from other environmental resource agencies.
“Most of these agencies have environmental protection missions that are not exactly the same as USACE, but we do share the overall goal of finding environmentally sustainable solutions,” Thron explained. “The best ideas usually come out of all of the blood, sweat, and itch (poison ivy, chiggers, mosquitoes, etc.) from conducting the field work together.”
Some of his favorite field work include week-long bird counts of the (formerly) federally endangered interior least tern, diving for federally endangered freshwater mussels for multiple USACE districts, and conducting various forested habitat assessments for ecological modeling calculations.
And while Thron is passionate about his work, he also greatly appreciates working for both USACE and the Memphis District.
“USACE provides a great opportunity to challenge yourself by using your existing scientific knowledge in collaboration with other scientific experts and colleagues from other disciplines to find solutions to real-world problems,” he said.
He also appreciates that every day presents a new set of challenges.
“Whether it is going out in a boat and sampling rivers from the top down, diving with our district dive team and exploring rivers from the bottom up, acoustic sampling for endangered bats, identifying freshwater mussels, counting endangered birds, measuring trees, classifying soils, assisting archaeologists with a dig, or writing it all up in lengthy reports, every day has something new,” he said.
As with most successful employees, there is usually a mentor encouraging them behind the scenes. Thron is no exception to this idea, as he said he not only has one, but two mentors.
“…our Section Chief, Mark Smith, taught me the identification of freshwater mussels and various sampling methods used throughout the country, and also the importance of always inviting other agencies out in the field with you,” Thron started. “Also, our Branch Chief, Ed Lambert, has taught me the importance of active listening to both internal employees and to external stakeholders. Ed’s active listening approach has paid dividends to the district resulting in successful solutions to many complex challenges and allowed our Branch to have a good reputation with our external stakeholders making our jobs much easier than it would be otherwise.”
Branch Chief Ed Lambert admires and appreciates Thron as well, saying, “Mike is one of the smartest, most knowledgeable and capable biologists that I have ever known. He is a very hardworking person who can be counted on to handle the most challenging assignments. He is also extremely nice, patient, and willing to help others.”
In addition to his mentors, Thron is thankful for everyone in the Environmental Compliance Section, from the leadership to the newest employees.
“There is rarely a project that you can successfully complete without some assistance from most of the employees in our Section,” he added.
Like Lambert said, Thron is a very knowledgeable and capable biologist, and this district is lucky to have him.
Thank you, Mike Thron. Your hard work, dedication, and technical expertise are vital to the continued success of the district, and we appreciate all you do.
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